Sociologies (May 2020)
Langages du care : temps, contraintes, responsabilités
Abstract
This article proposes to reflect on the issues at stake in the expression of caregivers, often made difficult by the very nature of the activities involved and by the methodological tools available. The perspective in terms of temporalities seems to us to be particularly heuristic in attempting to grasp the texture of care, in its dimensions of temporal commitment to respond to the needs and desires of others, of the adjustment of other temporalities to those of the time of care, and finally of the inflection of lives over the long term. The analysis of the constrained dimensions of care also makes it possible to situate this language of care in the reflection on power relationships. The responsibility of care providers is expressed differently depending on the country observed (here France and Japan), shedding light on conceptions of care largely shaped by national configurations of gender relations. Finally, the vulnerability produced by these care activities deserves to be better integrated into reflection on the ethics of care, also because it constitutes a threat to the recipients of care.
